For nearly nine decades, the Highland Park United Methodist Church tower has been a Mockingbird Lane landmark. It has an official Texas state historical marker to prove it. But before there was a brick-and-mortar sanctuary at the foot of Southern Methodist University, there was a congregation.

The church will mark 100 years next February. It launched its centennial Feb. 22 with a special sermon at SMU’s Moody Coliseum, and will conclude the event with another special service next February at the coliseum.

The service united under one roof for the first time in about a decade members from five different worship services and two campuses — the church’s original location along Mockingbird Lane and its East Dallas satellite campus at Munger Place Church.

The church counts more than 15,500 members, including former president and former first lady George W. and Laura Bush. That’s about a 55 percent increase from when the Rev. Paul Rasmussen joined the church’s staff.

A group of First Amendment organizations sent a letter Monday to Highland Park ISD leaders urging them to choose books and instructional materials “solely on sound educational grounds.”

The group, led by New York-based National Coalition Against Censorship, warned the school district against making curriculum decisions based on “some notion of ‘decency’ or ‘community standards,’ terms that are inherently vague and subjective.”

Highland Park ISD officials and parents have been embroiled in debate for the past few months after some parents said the content of some high school books was too mature for teens. They raised objections about sex scenes and references to rape, abortion and abuse.

In the letter sent Monday, the First Amendment organizations cited Highland Park ISD’s policy and said the school district already offers a way for parents to request alternate material for their child. Parents can also choose to send their child to private school or homeschool them, it says.

“Prolonging a contentious debate among members of the community with conflicting views and values will serve no legitimate purpose and will only harm students,” the letter says. “The only response that is practical as well as legally and educationally sound is to adopt policies and procedures that make it clear that curricular decisions will be based solely on educational grounds, not on the opinions or preferences of any individual or group.”

The letter is signed by by leaders of the National Coalition Against Censorship, American Booksellers Foundation For Free Expression, the Association of American Publishers, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the National Council of Teachers of English, PEN American Center and the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators. They sent another letter to school district leaders in October.

The Art of Racing in the Rain is the only book that was formally challenged. It is being taught in English II classes at Highland Park High School this school year.

District policy calls for the appointment of a reconsideration committee. The committee reads and discusses the challenged book and submits a written recommendation to the high school principal. The principal will decide whether to remove the book from the approved book list. His decision can be appealed to the superintendent and trustees.

The reconsideration committee is made up of 12 people that volunteered or were nominated, according to an email from Orr and high school principal Walter Kelly:

One of seven suspended books at Highland Park ISD — The Glass Castle – is back on the district’s approved book list.

District officials said an individual withdrew a challenge Wednesday to the nonfiction book.The Glass Castle will be taught in high school English classes in the spring.

Superintendent Dawson Orr and Highland Park High School Principal Walter Kelly sent an email Wednesday night to parents with an update about the seven books that are suspended from the approved book list, pending review by a committee of parents, teachers and students.

The number of challenged books, they noted in the email, has dropped to six.

Last week, Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle, said she was heartbroken over her book’s suspension. Her memoir is about growing up in poverty with an alcoholic father and a mentally ill mother.

“My book has ugly elements to it, but it’s about hope and resilience, and I don’t know why that wouldn’t be an important message,” she told the Dallas Morning News.

Prior to the book suspensions, Walls had been chosen as keynote speaker for the district’s literary festival in February.

Six books remain suspended: The Art of Racing in the Rain; The Working Poor: Invisible in America; Siddhartha; The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; An Abundance of Katherines; and Song of Solomon.

Three of the books, including The Glass Castle, were scheduled for use in English classes this school year. Orr said the suspended books are at the school’s library and can be read in students’ free time.

Highland Park ISD's suspension of The Art of Racing in the Rain interrupted some English classes that were already reading the book.

More than 1,300 people have signed an online petition that asks Highland Park ISD to reinstate seven suspended books.

Highland Park ISD Superintendent Dawson Orr suspended the books last week from classroom instruction after parents raised concerns about some of their mature content and sex scenes. The books cannot be used in English classes, pending a review by a committee of parents, teachers and students.

Three of the seven books were scheduled for use in this school year’s English classes. Orr said the books are available in the school library and can be read in students’ free time.

Highland Park ISD alumna Risa Gross started the online petition after reading a Dallas Morning News story about the book suspensions. The petition includes signatures from people who live in Dallas and around the country.

The petition acknowledges the good intentions of parents who “wanted to protect their children,” but says the group should not restrict what all high school students read.

“The seven books are not so exploitative, graphic, or sensational that they merit exclusion from HPHS; indeed, Siddhartha and Song of Solomon are on many school reading lists and constitute major works of the 20th century,” it says.

The seven suspended books are The Art of Racing in the Rain; The Working Poor: Invisible in America; Siddhartha; The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; An Abundance of Katherines; The Glass Castle: A Memoir; and Song of Solomon.

The seven books will be reviewed by committee to determine whether they should be taught. The process may four to eight weeks for each book, Orr said.

Highland Park ISD suspended seven books last week after parents objected to some of their content. Now, a group of parents is calling for the books’ return to the classroom.

One of the suspended books is The Glass Castle, a memoir written by Jeannette Walls. She is scheduled to be keynote speak at the district's annual literary festival.

Two Highland Park High School moms, Laurie Dodic Steinberg and Natalie Davis, are leading the effort. They organized a meeting with about forty parents and students Sunday night. The group will launch an email campaign to object to the books’ suspension and show support for high school English teachers.

The seven suspended books are The Art of Racing in the Rain; The Working Poor: Invisible in America; Siddhartha; The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; An Abundance of Katherines; The Glass Castle: A Memoir; and Song of Solomon.

The suspended books will not be taught in English classes, pending review by a committee of teachers, parents and students. The books are still available in the school’s library.

The suspension interrupted some 10th grade classes, who were already reading The Art of Racing in the Rain.

Steinberg said Highland Park ISD is violating its own policy, which pledges to allow access to books, even if they are being challenged and reviewed.

“They have pulled The Art of Racing in the Rain right out of the hands of the sophomore English students,” she said. “They can say it’s in the library all they want, but the fact is they’ve pulled these books in the middle of the six weeks and are now asking the teachers to scramble for a whole new lesson plan. It’s just incredibly sad.”

Steinberg, who has three children, said the tough topics in books prepare students for college and adulthood.

“These books could have the potential to make some people uncomfortable, but having our children grow up in the sheltered environment — “The Bubble” — our children need to be exposed to different ideas and ways of life for others. We’re doing a disservice to our students if we don’t broaden their minds and let them know more about the outside world.”

Highland Park ISD’s book debate coincides with Banned Books Week, an annual event that celebrates the freedom to read and calls attention to book challenges at schools, bookstores and libraries.

Miracle Mile has shown signs of aging, such as cracked streets and sidewalks.

University Park City Council tabled plans Tuesday for an approximately $1.5 million spruce up of Miracle Mile, a strip of shops and restaurants on Lovers Lane.

In a Tuesday work session, Mayor Olin Lane and City Council agreed to hold off on the public works project for six to 12 months. They said they will be tied up with several major projects in the coming months, such as a proposed natatorium that would be shared by Highland Park ISD and the city.

Last spring, University Park officials proposed a makeover for the Miracle Mile. The shopping center, which runs from Douglas Avenue to Dallas North Tollway, has been showing signs of aging with cracked streets and sidewalks and patches of weeds. City staff suggested repaving the two-lane road, redesigning the parking and adding a new water line, landscaped medians and decorative lighting.

Bud Smallwood, director of public works, showed City Council four conceptual designs Tuesday at a work session. He said construction would take one to two years.

As part of the project, the city would widen the road and add landscaped islands. But the improvements would decrease the number of parking spots and interrupt local businesses, he said.

City council and staff agreed to table plans for at least six months. They asked for more studies to determine whether part of Lovers Lane or the parking area could be resurfaced rather than rebuilt.

University Park police on Monday released a sketch of the man who raped an SMU student near campus.

Police say a tattoo on the left side of the man’s neck depicts a crown and includes some script writing.

The student told police she was raped Sept. 7 while jogging. She said she was attacked about 11 p.m. in the 6700 block of Willard Drive, near Central Expressway and about a half-mile east of the Southern Methodist University campus.

She said the attacker had a small knife and grabbed her from behind.

The man was wearing a white Los Angeles Angels baseball jersey, blue shorts and white-and-black athletic shoes. She described him as black, in his early 20s, about 6-0 with a “football player build” and close-cut black hair.

University Park police are investigating the sexual assault and urge anyone with information to call 214-363-3000 or contact Detective Marshall at 214-987-5359.

An SMU student told police she was raped Sunday when she was jogging near the Southern Methodist University campus.

The woman told police she was attacked about 11:15 p.m. in the 6700 block of Willard Drive, near Central Expressway and about half a mile east of the college campus. She said the attacker had a small knife and grabbed her from behind.

The attack occurred on a residential street of University Park that’s lined with brick homes, sidewalks and trees.

She gave police a description of what the rapist was wearing: a white California Angels T-shirt, blue shorts and white high-top shoes. She described him as a black, in his early 20s, about 6-foot tall and with close-cut black hair.

University Park police are investigating the sexual assault and urge anyone with information to call 214-363-3000 or contact Detective Marshall at 214-987-5359.